The Week India – August 04, 2019

46 THE WEEK • AUGUST 4, 2019

POLITICS

KARNATAKA

T

he BJP’s expansion plans for south India got a major

boost on July 23, and the party is now expected to

form government in Karnataka for the second time in

a decade. On that day, the 14-month old Janata Dal

(Secular)–Congress coalition in Karnataka collapsed after the

confidence motion moved by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaras-

wamy was defeated. The coalition lost 99 to 105; 20 legislators

skipped the trust vote. A spate of resignations by rebel MLAs

in the past month had weakened the coalition government,

and had brought down the strength of the assembly.

In the lead-up to the crucial trust vote, Karnataka witnessed

10 days of high drama, including allegations of horse trading,

Governor Vajubhai Vala’s reminders to conclude the trust

vote proceedings, and a spree of petitions before the Supreme

Court. All through the house proceedings, the BJP kept a stud-

ied silence given the precarious numbers that could upset its

calculations. The strategy worked.

While 15 rebel legislators, whose resignations are pend-

ing before speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar, were absent, two

independents chose to keep away, and two Congress legis-

lators—Shrimant Patil and B. Nagendra—skipped the vote

citing health reasons. N. Mahesh, the lone Bahujan Samaj

Party MLA, was expelled from the party after he disobeyed

president Mayawati’s order to vote for the coalition. The house

strength was 204 (excluding the speaker), and the magic num-

ber was 103. The coalition fell short by four.

This means that, once again, Kumaraswamy’s tenure

as chief minister has been curtailed (he had quit after a

20-month tenure in 2007). On the other hand, BJP state presi-

dent B.S. Yeddyurappa will be sworn in for the

fourth time.

The prime suspect in destabilising the gov-

ernment was ‘Operation Kamala’—the BJP’s

notorious ploy of wooing rebel legislators

from rival camps to “resign and reduce” the

strength of the house. However, one cannot

overlook the fact that the acrimonious relation

between the coalition partners could have

triggered the mass resignations. While coali-

tion leaders said the resignations were “polit-

ical defections”, the rebels insisted that they

resigned because they were sidelined. They

also alleged nepotism in allocation of funds

and in accommodating transfer requests.

Yeddy

steady,

for now

The BJP and B.S. Yeddyurappa might

have emerged victorious from the

chaos in the Karnataka assembly,

but they still have many battles left

BY PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

BHANU PRAKASH CHANDRA